Phase cooling for 45 pounds!

Has nobody ever thought of taking apart a freezer, I have. i thought to my self, DAMN $999 for phase cooling bits. Use an old freezer!. im gonna buy an old freezer of ebay, rip it apart (gently) and make a cooling kit out of it, i might need to spend 50 for a cpu block and piping but it should be rather cheap.

Im sure most of you know that a freezer is cold, but it essentially works the same way, it has a pump, condenser, radiator and cold liquid.

When i get going, if anyones interested, then ill post some pics of my progress, but i wont be starting for sometime maybe 3 -6 weeks because i need to make sure i can buy a new pc if this one gets broke and i need to save OOOP my money.

I know about the mini fridge thread but this is not a fridge nor water cooled fridge and its a new idea i think

I hate to break it to you but it's been done, all the original phase change coolers were from fridges and freezers, back before you could buy PC specific setups.
There isn't any functional difference between a fridge and a freezer, they're both phase change systems, it's just that one is calibrated for colder operation (by default) then the other.

Now that said, i would love to watch such a thing come together, so please do post pics when you start work!

Okay, will do

I thought fridge/freezer based builds weren't really recommended since their pumps are designed to run 24/7. But i have seen many window AC units converted over...i'd aim for that.

Thats for chilling the air/water not phase....but I thought that same thing too.... Is that right with those units? Im confused now.

Yeah the Freezer/ icebox phase changers are not recommend for 24/7 use only because they are not rated for that usage to begin with. Something like an air conditioner unit would work great for 24/7. If you want to use this for benchmarking purposes only, than that isn't a bad idea. Just make sure you don't blow the thing.


Info on this topic
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=373263

They definitely aren't designed for 24/7 use, but i've seen many the fridge that ends up doing it or close to it.
My brothers fridge over in chico (CA central vally, 100*f+ daytime temps, no ac, in a trailer) used to run 95-99% of the time till i cleaned it, and it's been doing it for years most likely.
If you put a fan or three on the pump and compressor it should live, just don't let them overheat.
That's the problem with mini-fridges, no fans to cool the compressor.

It will work....trust me, ill geta new pump.....i might be starting it in 1 week infact

Wouldnt that take it over 45 pounds.

Yes........Good point

The compressors are fine, it is the ability to dump the heat that kills refrigerators and freezers. Mini-fridges dump all their heat typically by having a lengthy run of pipe that is wrapped around the insulated chamber and the heat is dissipated through the mini-fridge shell to the local environment. Not an idea way to dump a couple hundred watts of heat like you'd want to do when cooling a processor.

Larger refrigerators are a step in the right direction but more often than not they use a huge wire lattice laced through an external run of piping to dissipate the heat. Once again insufficient heat rejection capacity for a computer.

Pick up a window A/C unit to start with, it comes with a condenser of more than sufficient size and typically the compressors are in the 1/2hp to 1hp range which will more than make up for the lack of capillary tuning that is sure to happen.

One last thing which will put a huge dampener on your plans. Repiping an a/c unit is going to take a torch, brazing material, preferably a purging gas to prevent oxidization, a vacuum pump to remove purging gases and humid air, a set of gauges to access the system, and then your refrigerant. If you know somebody who does HVAC work professionally they might be willing to help you on a weekend but don't expect much in hand outs.

Good luck and be safe.

edit: I'm quite tired, been running on 1-2 hours of sleep each night for a few days so this probably doesn't flow too well. Feel free to ask any questions you might have, if I don't respond back hit me up on a PM as I don't check OCF much.

?

Is the stuff in the pipes of a freezer, liquid or gas?

both sometimes, theres a reason its called phase change.

It's Freon, or some other hydrocarbon substitute. It has a boiling point somewhere around -150 to -100*f, so at normal pressures and temps it's a gas, and generally a toxic one at that.
When the system is turned off it's mostly in gas form, but very close to liquid due to the pressure.
The compressor heats and compresses it so it's a very high pressure gas, then it goes through the condenser which takes the heat out, leaving a liquid a bit over room temp, it then goes to a nozzle (in this case aimed at the CPU) which sprays it into a low pressure section, converting it back into a gas (which sucks up all the heat it got rid of earlier), at which point the compressor compresses it again, and so on.

@Bobnova wow so tats phase cooling? XD

Yup, the phase change from gas to liquid creates a ton of heat, and the phase change back from liquid to gas sucks up a ton of heat.

and if you know what your doing youll want it to still be cold by the time it hits the compressor again to keep it from heating up to much.

Okay........new plan, make a water cooling rig....but air con the air blowing throught the rad

On a similar theme, haven't some people had success in the past using the innards of one of the big high capacity water fountains as a chiller?

I didn't read the whole thread, but heres some info from someone who has built a few ghetto chillers-

A mini fridge wont work. - But I've actually seen it done back in the Athlon days. CPUs today are just a little too hot so the fridge (with no condenser or a small one) will die or your temps won't be very good.

A chilled water dispenser will work. - Seen that done on a pentium 4 or pentium D. Made one myself, it's a lot quieter (A LOT) than an AC based chiller because of it's piston compressor.

An air conditioner works the best for the coldest temps. - I've seen these done to cool even hot chips to very low temps. Air conditioners can be found at yard sales for around $10. ACs are loud though, especially when the whole thing is inside your house.

Dehumidifiers work the best IMO. - If you can find a dehumidifier a few years old cheap, and it has a piston compressor (quiet & round vs the tall & loud rotary) then you will fall in love with it. I had a chiller set up with one and it was beautiful. The evaporator got very frosty and fit in a smaller cooler easily. The compressor didn't get hot, and the condenser was huge and also didn't get even warm with the stock quiet fan on it.

So a freezer... Better suited than the mini fridge for sure. Definitely a ***** to rip all of the piping out of though. I think you will be pleased with the results though. Don't ebay it, go down to the local dump and borrow someone's truck if you don't have one. Find an AC or a freezer. Down the road on this project, you'll be spending more money anyway. Here is an example of the PITA you will experience: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=598285